Adding a sauna after exercise lowered blood pressure more than exercise alone
This 2022 trial in the American Journal of Physiology randomly split 47 inactive Finnish adults into three groups for eight weeks. One exercised and then sat in a sauna for 15 minutes, another did the exercise alone and a third made no changes.
The paper
Effects of regular sauna bathing in conjunction with exercise on cardiovascular function: a multi-arm, randomized controlled trial
Lee E, Kolunsarka I, Kostensalo J, Ahtiainen JP, et al.. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 2022;323(3):R289-R299.
See the study at a glance
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial with three groups
- People
- 47 adults
- Who they were
- The trial enrolled 48 physically inactive adults in Jyväskylä who had at least one cardiovascular risk factor, and 42 of them were women. Their average age was 49, and in the six months before, none had used a sauna more than once a week.
- What they did
- Three times a week, both exercise groups did about 50 minutes of supervised resistance circuits and cycling. One group then sat in a sauna for 15 minutes. The sauna started at 65°C and rose 5°C every two weeks until it reached 80°C. A control group made no changes.
- How long
- 8 weeks
These numbers came out of it
−8.0
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) fell this much further with exercise plus sauna than with exercise alone.
+2.7
When the sauna followed exercise, estimated VO2max (a fitness measure, in mL/kg/min) rose this much more.
+6.2
Exercise raised estimated VO2max this much compared with no training.
87%
Women made up this share of the two exercise groups that were compared.
The researchers did this
Researchers in Jyväskylä randomly assigned inactive adults with cardiovascular risk factors to one of three groups for eight weeks: exercise followed by a sauna, the same exercise alone, or no intervention.Source 1 · Randomized trialEffects of regular sauna bathing in conjunction with exercise on cardiovascular function: a multi-arm, randomized controlled trialLee E, Kolunsarka I, Kostensalo J, et al.. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 2022.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ Exercise meant three supervised sessions a week of resistance circuits and cycling, and the intensity rose every two weeks.
The sauna group sat for 15 minutes after each session. The heat started at 65°C and rose by 5°C every two weeks until it reached 80°C, and humidity stayed at 10–20%.Source 1 · Randomized trialEffects of regular sauna bathing in conjunction with exercise on cardiovascular function: a multi-arm, randomized controlled trialLee E, Kolunsarka I, Kostensalo J, et al.. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 2022.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
After eight weeks, systolic blood pressure had fallen 8.0 mmHg more in the sauna group than in the exercise-only group, and estimated fitness had risen 2.7 mL/kg/min more. Diastolic pressure, fat mass and two measures of artery stiffness (pulse wave velocity and augmentation index) didn't differ between those two groups. Total cholesterol came out 19 mg/dL lower with sauna.Source 1 · Randomized trialEffects of regular sauna bathing in conjunction with exercise on cardiovascular function: a multi-arm, randomized controlled trialLee E, Kolunsarka I, Kostensalo J, et al.. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 2022.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
The exercise did most of the work on fitness. Against the group that did nothing, it raised estimated VO2max by 6.2 mL/kg/min and improved fat mass, though blood pressure didn't change.Source 1 · Randomized trialEffects of regular sauna bathing in conjunction with exercise on cardiovascular function: a multi-arm, randomized controlled trialLee E, Kolunsarka I, Kostensalo J, et al.. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 2022.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ A follow-up analysis of 38 people found that the sauna added nothing to heart rate variability.Source 2 · Clinical trialRegular postexercise sauna bathing does not improve heart rate variability: A multi‐arm randomized controlled trialLee E, Ketelhut S, Wiklund P, et al.. Physiological Reports, 2025.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
The study can't tell you these things
- Only 31 people were in the two exercise groups that were compared, and 27 of them were women.
- Fitness was estimated from heart rate on a bike test that stopped short of all-out effort. Getting used to heat can lower heart rate too, so the sauna group's result may look better than it is.
- The sauna group started with lower estimated fitness than the exercise group (26.4 against 29.4 mL/kg/min).
- Every sauna session came after exercise, so the trial can't say what a sauna alone does.
- Participants knew which group they were in.
People quote it like this
The trial backs a sauna after exercise. When people quote it as proof that sauna lowers blood pressure, the workout before every session drops out of the story, and so does the fact that no group used the sauna alone.
We cited these sources
- 01Lee E, Kolunsarka I, Kostensalo J, Ahtiainen JP, Haapala EA, Willeit P, et al.. Effects of regular sauna bathing in conjunction with exercise on cardiovascular function: a multi-arm, randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 2022;323(3):R289-R299. doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00076.2022 PMID 35785965
- 02Lee E, Ketelhut S, Wiklund P, Kostensalo J, Kolunsarka I, Hägglund H, et al.. Regular postexercise sauna bathing does not improve heart rate variability: A multi‐arm randomized controlled trial. Physiological Reports. 2025;13(13):e70449. doi:10.14814/phy2.70449 PMID 40611569